QUEENSBURY — QVC Host Nancy Hornback is used to being in front of a camera and broadcasting to millions of people, but when it comes to heights, she said she still gets “butterflies.”
Friday morning, she took her first hot-air balloon ride out of Crandall Park with Queensbury Pilot Rob Swinton of Majestic Balloon Flights. Once in the sky, her fear dissipated.
“It felt very safe and secure. It was so serene,” Hornback said.
Hornback and a crew from the TV-shopping network arrived in town Thursday night and planned to stay until Sunday morning for the 41st annual Adirondack Balloon Festival.
From about 4 to 7 p.m. Friday afternoon the crew fed live spots into the regularly scheduled programming.
High winds prevented balloon launches Saturday at Warren County airport. QVC planned to feature live shots Saturday, too, but the weather prevented that.
“What a great town this is — from the accommodations (Queensbury Hotel) to Mark Donahue (festival board of directors president),” Hornback said.
Paul Capelli, vice president of corporate communications, said the network’s “sprinter truck,” a remote vehicle that gives QVC the ability to broadcast live via satellite, launched within the last several months. Now, the network seeks regional events to spotlight. This event helped them launch their fall season.
“As a QVC host it’s really important for us to build relationships and family. We feel like our QVC viewers are family,” Hornback said. “We know many people can’t get out to see something like this.”
It was Hornback’s first balloon festival, and she brought her friends and family, her husband, James, and her 4-year-old daughter, Isabella.
In other national publicity, the festival was listed on the American Bus Association’s Top 100 Events in North America.
Tanya Brand, the group tour promoter for Warren County Department of Tourism nominates up to three events annually for the list, and this year the festival was chosen.
Brand said the ABA is one of the most prestigious group travel associations with domestic and international tour operators.
“The tour operators use the guide yearly in order to choose where they want to send their groups,” Brand said. “For tour operators to be aware of this event being a bus-friendly, free event, it’s a big deal.”
The Saturday morning launch was left to pilots’ discretion.
Then, the surface winds picked up shortly after the pilots’ briefing and they were told no flights should take off.
Pilot B.J. Sullivan of Bedford, N.H., was the first to inflate his balloon, but it didn’t take off. He said the festival made the right call.
“They closed the field off because the winds are just too strong,” Sullivan said as he and his team packed up the “envelope,” the name for the fabric balloon.
Sullivan said if the balloon were to fly, landing would be very difficult in high winds. The softer the winds, the softer the landing.
Special-shape balloons Jewel the hummingbird and the Purple People Eater inflated nearly all the way.
Several other balloons also took shape, but some didn’t rise completely from the ground before they were packed up for the next scheduled launch.
High winds in the afternoon prevented that launch and the Moon Glow.
Instead, more than 40 pilots lined up their baskets directly in the middle of a yellow line on the runway for what’s called a “candlestick glow” or “flicker burn” when the propane burners ignite in unison.
The crowd thinned out from the morning, but many stayed and cheered as they watched the burners ignite at 7 p.m.
Stephanie Bauschard and her family traveled from Rochester to the event. She’s originally from Hudson Falls.
“I wanted my kids to experience it,” Bauschard said. The lack of launches didn’t bother her. It was still exciting for her family, as her kids got the chance to stand in a balloon basket. Pilots opened up their baskets to spectators who could stand with them as they ignited the burners.
Pilot Tim Strand of Sky Hopes Ballooning in Clinton, N.J., said the pilots will do the “flicker burn” to help festival organizers and provide entertainment for the crowd.
“Especially at this event because they’re all volunteers who do this out of the goodness of their hearts,” Strand said.
Donahue said attendance Friday night may have reached 30,000 to 40,000 people, the usual crowd for a Saturday, but a record breaker for a Friday.
“The community comes out to support this festival,” Donahue said.
When the weather is good, sometimes the festival draws at least 150,000 people over the span of four days.
According to the National Weather Service, showers are likely Sunday before 10 a.m., but after that it should be partly sunny with a high near 63 for the scheduled 5 p.m. launch at Crandall Park.
The “Walter’s Mass Ascension” is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. Sunday. The Big Balloon Breakfast at the Airport Hanger goes from 5 to 11 a.m. and the Zonta International craft fair goes from 6 a.m. to noon. There’s a Catholic Mass at 8 a.m. in the Entertainment tent and a Protestant service at 9 a.m.